Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Discussion Forum shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Discussion Forum offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Discussion Forum at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Discussion Forum? Wrong! If the Discussion Forum is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Discussion Forum then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Discussion Forum? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Discussion Forum and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Discussion Forum wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Discussion Forum then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Discussion Forum site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Discussion Forum, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Discussion Forum, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
s and spoiler brackets and
Internet slangAn
Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as
web forums,
message boards,
discussion boards,
(electronic) discussion groups,
discussion forums,
bulletin boards,
fora (the
Latin plural) or simply
forums. The terms "forum" and "board" may refer to the entire community or to a specific sub-forum dealing with a distinct topic. Messages within these sub-forums are then displayed either in
chronological order or as threaded discussions.
Such forums perform a function similar to that of the dial-up
bulletin board systems and Internet
newsgroups that were numerous in the
1980s and
1990s. http://www.fact-index.com/i/in/internet_forum.html Early web-based forums such as
UBB.classic date back as far as 1996. A sense of
virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users.
Technology, computer games and/or video games,
fashion, religion, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics. Internet slang and
image macros popular across the internet are abundant and most widely used in internet forums.
Membership and anonymity
Anonymous forums may offer full anonymity or pseudonymity, allowing posts without registration.
Captchas,
e-mail authentication, and
tripcodes are often used to prevent
comment spam on such forums.
Registered members of a forum, who are identified by unique user (computing)s, may have additional privileges, such as the ability to edit their previous posts, start new topics, and control their individual settings and profiles. The profiles tend to include graphical avatar (icon)s and
signature blocks which are appended to their future posts, sometimes consisting of elaborate shoutboxes. Members also have the ability to send personal messages to each other. In certain cases, members have been given the ability to close their own topics, edit previously posted comments, or delete posts in topics they have started.
Western-style forums place heavy emphasis on identity and user registration. This makes the tone of discussion very different from the more anonymous 2channel style boards. The burdens of status and persona encourage both highly formal discourse and close personal relationships, depending on the tone given a forum by its moderators and heaviest users. The permanence of messages on many western-style forums can encourage users to self-moderate. Precursor systems like
Usenet have been archived as far back as 1981 by Google Groups (formerly DejaNews).
Administrators and moderators
A
forum administrator typically has the ability to edit, delete, move or otherwise modify any thread on the forum. Administrators also usually have the ability to close the board, change major software items, change global skins, modify the board, and ban, delete, or create members.
forum moderator have a subset of these powers, which may include editing, deleting, and moving threads, mass pruning, warning members for offences, and changing minor forum details. It is often possible for moderator privileges to be delegated to other forum members.
A board's moderation system can include moderation of the moderators via a
meta-moderation system. The board software may also allow administrators to create wordfilters, automated scripts which strip undesirable text from users' messages. Other features may include
sticky content threads, allowing moderators and administrators to cause significant threads to display at the top of the forum's index.
Features
Forum software packages are widely available on the Internet and are written in a variety of programming languages, such as PHP,
Perl,
Java (programming language) and
Active Server Pages. The configuration and records of posts can be stored in
text files or in a database. Each package offers different features, from the most basic, providing text-only postings, to more advanced packages, offering multimedia support and formatting code (usually known as BBCode). Many packages can be integrated easily into an existing website to allow visitors to post comments on articles.
Several other web applications, such as weblog software, also incorporate forum features. Wordpress comments at the bottom of a blog post allow for a single-threaded discussion of any given blog post. Slashcode, on the other hand, is far more complicated, allowing fully threaded discussions and incorporating a robust moderation and meta-moderation system as well as many of the profile features available to forum users. Full
content management systems such as Drupal or Mambo (software) can also incorporate full-blown forums as plugins or basic features of forums in other portions of their website.
Comparison with other web applications
One significant difference between forums and electronic mailing lists is that mailing lists automatically deliver new messages to the subscriber, while forums require the member to visit the website and check for new posts. Because members may miss replies in threads they are interested in, many modern forums offer an "e-mail notification" feature, whereby members can choose to be notified of new posts in a thread, and RSS feeds that allow members to see a summary of the new posts using
aggregator software. The main difference between newsgroups and forums is that additional software, a News client, is required to participate in newsgroups. Visiting and participating in forums normally requires no additional software beyond the web browser.
Wikis, unlike conventional forums, typically allow all users to edit all content, including each other's messages. This level of content manipulation is reserved for moderators or administrators on most forums. Wikis also allow the creation of other content outside of the
talk pages. On the other hand, weblogs and generic content management systems tend to be locked down to the point where only a few select users can post blog entries, although many allow other users to comment upon them.
Forums differ from
chat rooms and instant messaging in that forum participants do not have to be online at the same time; forums also usually deal with one topic and personal exchanges are typically discouraged. Messages posted to a forum or Usenet are publicly available for some time, which is uncommon in chat rooms, with only few bash.org.
Forum netiquette
Multiple posts
One common faux pas on internet forums is to post the same message twice. Users sometimes post versions of a message that are only slightly different, especially in forums where they aren't allowed to edit their earlier posts. Multiple posting instead of editing prior posts can artificially inflate a user's post count. Multiple posting can be unintentional; a user's browser might display an error message even though the post has been transmitted or a user of a slow forum might become impatient and repeatedly hit the submit button. Multiple posting can also be used as a method of
Troll (Internet) or spreading forum spam. A user may also send the same post to several forums, crossposting. This problem was inherited from Usenet and is a common complaint in many forums.
Spamming
Forum spamming is a breach of netiquette where users repeat the same word or phrase over and over, but differs from multiple posting in that spamming is usually a wilful act which sometimes has malicious intent. This is a common trolling technique. It can also be traditional spam, unpaid
advertisements that are in breach of the forum's rules. Spammers utilize a number of illicit techniques to post their spam, including the use of botnets.
Trolls
A troll is a user that repeatedly and intentionally breaches netiquette, often posting derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community to bait users into responding. They may also link to
shock sites or plant images on networks that others may find disturbing in order to cause confrontation. Trolls known as gravediggers purposefully post in old and irrelevant threads simply to bring that thread to light again.
See also
References
External links
s and
spoiler brackets and
Internet slangAn
Internet forum is a
web application for holding discussions and posting
user generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as
web forums,
message boards,
discussion boards,
(electronic) discussion groups,
discussion forums,
bulletin boards,
fora (the
Latin plural) or simply
forums. The terms "forum" and "board" may refer to the entire community or to a specific sub-forum dealing with a distinct topic. Messages within these sub-forums are then displayed either in
chronological order or as
threaded discussions.
Such forums perform a function similar to that of the dial-up bulletin board systems and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. http://www.fact-index.com/i/in/internet_forum.html Early web-based forums such as UBB.classic date back as far as 1996. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users.
Technology, computer games and/or
video games,
fashion, religion, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics. Internet slang and
image macros popular across the internet are abundant and most widely used in internet forums.
Membership and anonymity
Anonymous forums may offer full anonymity or
pseudonymity, allowing posts without registration. Captchas, e-mail authentication, and
tripcodes are often used to prevent comment spam on such forums.
Registered members of a forum, who are identified by unique user (computing)s, may have additional privileges, such as the ability to edit their previous posts, start new topics, and control their individual settings and profiles. The profiles tend to include graphical
avatar (icon)s and
signature blocks which are appended to their future posts, sometimes consisting of elaborate shoutboxes. Members also have the ability to send personal messages to each other. In certain cases, members have been given the ability to close their own topics, edit previously posted comments, or delete posts in topics they have started.
Western-style forums place heavy emphasis on identity and user registration. This makes the tone of discussion very different from the more anonymous 2channel style boards. The burdens of status and persona encourage both highly formal discourse and close personal relationships, depending on the tone given a forum by its moderators and heaviest users. The permanence of messages on many western-style forums can encourage users to self-moderate. Precursor systems like
Usenet have been archived as far back as 1981 by Google Groups (formerly
DejaNews).
Administrators and moderators
A forum administrator typically has the ability to edit, delete, move or otherwise modify any thread on the forum. Administrators also usually have the ability to close the board, change major software items, change global skins, modify the board, and ban, delete, or create members. forum moderator have a subset of these powers, which may include editing, deleting, and moving threads, mass pruning, warning members for offences, and changing minor forum details. It is often possible for moderator privileges to be delegated to other forum members.
A board's
moderation system can include moderation of the moderators via a
meta-moderation system. The board software may also allow administrators to create
wordfilters, automated scripts which strip undesirable text from users' messages. Other features may include
sticky content threads, allowing moderators and administrators to cause significant threads to display at the top of the forum's index.
Features
Forum software packages are widely available on the
Internet and are written in a variety of programming languages, such as PHP, Perl, Java (programming language) and Active Server Pages. The configuration and records of posts can be stored in
text files or in a database. Each package offers different features, from the most basic, providing text-only postings, to more advanced packages, offering multimedia support and formatting code (usually known as BBCode). Many packages can be integrated easily into an existing website to allow visitors to post comments on articles.
Several other web applications, such as
weblog software, also incorporate forum features. Wordpress comments at the bottom of a blog post allow for a single-threaded discussion of any given blog post.
Slashcode, on the other hand, is far more complicated, allowing fully threaded discussions and incorporating a robust moderation and meta-moderation system as well as many of the profile features available to forum users. Full
content management systems such as
Drupal or
Mambo (software) can also incorporate full-blown forums as plugins or basic features of forums in other portions of their website.
Comparison with other web applications
One significant difference between forums and
electronic mailing lists is that mailing lists automatically deliver new messages to the subscriber, while forums require the member to visit the website and check for new posts. Because members may miss replies in threads they are interested in, many modern forums offer an "e-mail notification" feature, whereby members can choose to be notified of new posts in a thread, and RSS feeds that allow members to see a summary of the new posts using aggregator software. The main difference between newsgroups and forums is that additional software, a News client, is required to participate in newsgroups. Visiting and participating in forums normally requires no additional software beyond the
web browser.
Wikis, unlike conventional forums, typically allow all users to edit all content, including each other's messages. This level of content manipulation is reserved for moderators or administrators on most forums. Wikis also allow the creation of other content outside of the
talk pages. On the other hand, weblogs and generic content management systems tend to be locked down to the point where only a few select users can post blog entries, although many allow other users to comment upon them.
Forums differ from
chat rooms and
instant messaging in that forum participants do not have to be online at the same time; forums also usually deal with one topic and personal exchanges are typically discouraged. Messages posted to a forum or Usenet are publicly available for some time, which is uncommon in chat rooms, with only few
bash.org.
Forum netiquette
Multiple posts
One common faux pas on internet forums is to post the same message twice. Users sometimes post versions of a message that are only slightly different, especially in forums where they aren't allowed to edit their earlier posts. Multiple posting instead of editing prior posts can artificially inflate a user's post count. Multiple posting can be unintentional; a user's browser might display an error message even though the post has been transmitted or a user of a slow forum might become impatient and repeatedly hit the submit button. Multiple posting can also be used as a method of Troll (Internet) or spreading
forum spam. A user may also send the same post to several forums, crossposting. This problem was inherited from Usenet and is a common complaint in many forums.
Spamming
Forum spamming is a breach of netiquette where users repeat the same word or phrase over and over, but differs from multiple posting in that spamming is usually a wilful act which sometimes has malicious intent. This is a common trolling technique. It can also be traditional
spam, unpaid advertisements that are in breach of the forum's rules. Spammers utilize a number of illicit techniques to post their spam, including the use of botnets.
Trolls
A troll is a user that repeatedly and intentionally breaches netiquette, often posting
derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community to bait users into responding. They may also link to shock sites or plant images on networks that others may find disturbing in order to cause confrontation. Trolls known as gravediggers purposefully post in old and irrelevant threads simply to bring that thread to light again.
See also
References
External links
